Because acronyms are read and function as regular words, they are rarely preceded by an article—a, an, or the—in a sentence. However, when they are preceded by an article, choosing a, an, or the depends on how the sentence would sound when read aloud. For example:

“When NATO asked NASA to form a committee, a WHO director became chairperson.”

Because initialisms are read as a string of letters, they often take a, an, or the. For example:

“An MIT graduate was required to take a writing test at the FDA office.”

It’s actually quite simple: technical writing has technical content. That’s the bottomline. Your approach to technical writing should be the same approach you take to non-technical writing. Here is the “Checklist of the Writing Process” from the opening pages of the Handbook of Technical Writing: Establish your purpose, identify your audience, brainstorm, conduct research, outline your notes and ideas, adopt the appropriate style and tone, construct effective paragraphs. The list goes on, but it sounds familiar, right? That’s because it’s the same one you’ll find in any high school or college writing textbook. One problem with technical writing is that too many novice technical writers think that because technical subject matter is complicated, that writing about it should also be complicated. Not so. Don’t overcomplicate the skill of technical writing by thinking it’s complicated.

During an interview, professional business writer Marcus Buckingham said, “I don’t think about rules at all [while writing]. Split infinitives and so forth? I split infinitives all the time. I don’t care much about that stuff. I try to write aggressively, with purpose.”

Research backs up this approach. Mike Rose, Professor of Education at UCLA, came to this conclusion about the composing process of freshmen college students:

“There lies the irony. Students that offer the least precise rules and plans have the least trouble composing. The five students who experienced blocking were all operating either with writing rules or with planning strategies that impeded rather than enhanced the composing process. The five students who were not hampered by writer’s block also utilized rules, but they were… few and functional… less rigid ones.”

Professional writers only keep a handful of pragmatic, easy-to-apply rules in their heads while writing, such as, “Is what I just wrote clear?” “Does this idea logically flow from my previous idea?” “Can I write this more simply?” You should do the same.

Digital communications are addictive, which makes it easy for them to become the primary (and in some cases the only) way to interact with your team. Here’s an excellent reminder from the chapter on email writing in the Guide to Naval Writing. While it applies to managing people on ships, this sage advice is also germane to businesses.

“Although electronic communication is a part of a job, it’s not all of it. Yes, leadership is always embodied in words… However… leadership is a contact sport, especially on board ship. Get out into the work spaces, among your people. Don’t succumb to the temptation to try to lead from your desk.”